China shares fall as tech-heavy start-up index ChiNext snaps two-day rally

SSEC -1.1%, CSI300 -1.1%, HSI -0.2%

FTSE China A50 -0.9%

SHANGHAI, Aug 26 (Reuters) - China stocks declined on Wednesday, dragged lower by losses in the tech-heavy start-up board ChiNext, as investors booked profits after two straight sessions of sharp gains following a historic reform to drive technology investment.

** At the midday break, China's blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 was down 1.1%, while Shanghai Composite index .SSEC eased 1.1% to 3,337.03.

** ChiNext .CNT fell 1.5%, and the STAR50 index .STAR50 lost 2.0%.

** China CSI300 stock index futures for September fell 1.0% to 4,679, 29.02 points below the current value of the underlying index.

** Fourteen out of 18 companies that debuted on ChiNext on Monday, as part of a historic reform that relaxed the listing requirements and trading rules of Shenzhen stock bourse, posed huge losses on Wednesday morning after two days of rallies.

** Anker Innovations Technology Co Ltd 300866.SZ dropped 11.49%, Ningbo KBE Electrical Technology Co Ltd 300863.SZ lost 10.3%, and Shenzhen Honor Electronic Co Ltd 300870.SZ eased 8.7% by midday.

** New ChiNext shares can now trade without daily cap for the first five trading days, and can trade up to 20% in sessions afterwards. It allowed shares to rise or fall up to 10% previously.

** The Hang Seng index .HSI dropped 0.2% to 25,432.47. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index .HSCE lost 0.1% to 10,279.72.

** Hong Kong shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd 9988.HK outperformed the market, rising 3.6% to HK$278.80 at midday, underpinned by the news that its fintech unit Ant filed for dual listing.

** China's mobile payments firm Ant Group, Alibaba's fintech arm, filed for a dual listing in Hong Kong and on Shanghai's Nasdaq-style STAR Market on Tuesday and could raise as much as $30 billion in what would be the world's largest IPO.

** Total volume of A shares traded in Shanghai was 17.21 billion shares, while Shenzhen volume was 29.28 billion shares.

(Reporting by Winni Zhou and Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

((winni.zhou@thomsonreuters.com; +86 21 2083 0100; Reuters Messaging: winni.zhou.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

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